In the Mosel and the Eifel region
Swedish Men have it all - do they?
Actually you can take that leave until the child id 8 years old, and in months, weeks, days or even hours. Next to that is the 120-day annual allowance for parents to tend to sick children and of course the (free) preschools - starting at 12 months.
So there is a tremendous pressure on parents to take at least a year off - and dads to take at least 2 months (after September 4 months) of. Some mothers are not that happy with daddy staying at home (while they have to get back to work) We all know that whatever dad is doing with the baby has seldom the approval of mom ;-)
On the other hand the whole idea of fathers earning money and mothers staying at home is vanishing - could this be the future? Or is Sweden n example of a (womens) state gone wild and where men are forced into patterns they don't really belong or want to be?
The Black Forrest
Warnung! part II
The more curves, the more fun and the more danger it seems... The Germans have put it very visually :-)
The Schluchsee
The first entry in the Forrest didn't let us down: it is indeed very nice: lots of curvy (empty) roads, hilly and now and then a hair pin....
The Rheinfall at Schaffhaussen
We have been to the Rheinfall many times before, but always coming from the north so on the left bank. Now we saw the waterfall for the first time on the right bank - which I must admit is much much better. The accessibility on this side is such that you almost stand in the waterfall. (and it is much less crowded)
On the ferry
We crossed some lakes today - and although the weather didn't looked that good in the morning it became much better later in the day - but just to be on the safe side we mounted our rain in lining in our suits.
Over the Swiss Alps - the day of the hair pin curves
Riding through Switzerland and avoiding the highway means that in stead through the mountains by tunnels we have to go OVER them and ride the passes. We did several today among which the Grimsel Pass which was fine on the south part with sunny conditions but somewhat different on the other part of the mountain - dense fog, wet, colder conditions made it quite a challenge - but a fun one :-). Luckily we have plenty of experience from the Nordkap tour last year. So we ended up at Lake Lucern on time.
The Simplon Pass = Closed!
So in 20 minutes we were in Switzerland anyway.
At Lake Maggiore
Why I was a little disapointed that CU didn't got 41 seats...
The Dutch Elections: the end of politics as we know it?
Of course I voted in the Dutch Election even when I was on holiday (thx No!) and let's hope that the result will be a Purple Plus government (Liberals / Democrats / Green) and that they don't spend months of trying to arrange everything upfront but just start govern and adjust and learn along the way.
But is the whole idea of having parties with members and coalition governments still a valid one in this century with its lighting fast (internet / twitter) media, continuous polls and complex issues?
Shouldn't we look more towards movements like the democrats / GOP in the USA? That seems to me a more Bottom-up approach then the Top-down of the old parties we have now... It also could mean that we have a more decisive result with a clear mandate to govern. But as long everybody in The Hague keeps on sleeping I am not sure that anything will happen soon - sometimes that is maybe for the best because sometimes it is better that politicians do nothing and let society let sort things our it self...
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